Venues set the mood for your event

Using no words at all, your venue will tell your attendees so much about your event.

Taking time to determine how you want others to feel after leaving your event is a great starting point.

Determining which venue space works for you

You want attendees to feel comfortable, know where to go for all the essentials (from registration to seating to restrooms), and immediately understand what your event will entail for them. And, better yet, want to share with others what they are doing.  

What message do you want to convey to your audience? These are all venue types that can help you set the right mood:

• A sleek professional setting with an open layout of glass and metal.
• A casual setting that mimics an intimate home environment, with cushy sofas and many places for people to relax and talk.
• A rustic industrial setting with lots of character in exposed bricks, conduits, or wood.
• An aesthetic #partygoals atmosphere with a beautiful photo backdrop, colorful activities, and lots of Instagrammable vignettes.
• A playful community-focused space that showcases the work of local artists and artisans, which promotes creativity and collaboration.
• An open, airy indoor space where people can participate in health, fitness, or other well-being activities or movements.

Events come in all forms, from huge conventions to small community meetings, and everything in between. And the right venue for another event won’t always work for yours.

Does your venue provide everything you need?

Who your audience is will determine some of the features you will need for your event.

• Will families be attending? You’ll want a venue with obvious ramps at the entrance and throughout the venue, as well as elevators, and lots of open space so people with strollers can easily get around.
• Is it a tech conference or an all-day workshop for professional development? Be sure there is room to have tables full of caffeinated beverages available, access to outlets and extension cords, and, if people will be working on laptops, you’ll probably need to boost the wifi.
• Is it a convention for people who will want a more private space, like lawyers, medical personnel, or people in the financial sector? You’ll want conference room spaces in a more private facility where sensitive info will not easily be overheard by the general public.
• Is it a festival or pop-up style event? You might want a big open space where you can have a blank slate to build out the venue from scratch, bringing in whatever you need, including a stage, tables and chairs, or even hay bales.
• Will food or drinks be served? Each venue has a different catering policy, and you definitely need to check to see if you can bring in outside vendors or only use a space’s in-house cooking staff and menus. Serving alcohol means security checking IDs, having bartenders, providing enough glassware, bussing stations and/or trash cans, and (depending on your state’s requirements) alcohol monitors to be sure no one is too inebriated to be served again, as well as additional insurance policies and predetermined response guidelines on what to do if anyone gets out of hand.

Finding the perfect space isn’t always easy. And meeting your vision is definitely dependent on price and availability of a venue. But if you keep these considerations in mind, you’ll be sure to provide the best setting for your attendees.

In the next post, we’ll discuss Inclusive ways to welcome attendees to your event.